Darkness Above by J.D. Brown

Author:J.D. Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J.D. Brown

28 JORDAN

The five of us rode in silence past long stretches of asphalt that wrapped around cliffs and wound through forests, hugging the mountainside as we rose steadily higher. I knew the hour was late, but our cell phone batteries had died, so I’d lost track of time. The woods were pitch black, the density of the trees too thick for moon or starlight, or—I suspected—the first rays of dawn. A pit sat in my stomach.

From hunger, I told myself.

While that might have been true, it was also a lie. My hands fidgeted in my lap, and I released a nervous sigh.

Torrance threaded her fingers with mine and gave my hand a gentle squeeze, her slender palm cool to the touch despite the warm summer air. I glanced at her in surprise, and she offered me a reassuring smile. My lips tweaked in thanks.

We emerged from the forest to a flat expanse of gravel, where the road came to an end. Ahead of us stood a beautiful fourteenth-century abbey made of stone with stained glass windows and conical roofs. A low fence surrounded the holy edifice. Patches of wild grass, clover, and edelweiss lent a charming image to the small stretch of land. Beyond that, more dense forest continued in all directions, as if the monastery had been dropped upon this little spot of clearing.

As we closed the distance, I noticed three vampyres waiting in front of the main entrance. Two golden-eyed males in uniform stood on either side while a teenage girl paced between them. Our driver parked parallel with the gate, and the girl paused to look at us. I recognized her from photographs around the manor back home, from Christmases and summer holidays of a bygone past.

“Aunt Sara.” I opened the car door and stepped out.

Aunt Sara’s lips pinched as her gaze went to my shoes and then slowly lifted, tracing and measuring every inch of my frame. The golden sheen of her irises flashed like a blade in the night. She looked younger than I remembered, but that didn’t stop her from running toward me and catching me in her arms, like I was the same little girl I’d been when we last saw each other.

“You’re grown.” Her accent was soft, like everything else about her.

“I’ve missed you,” I said, wrapping her tiny frame in my arms.

“And I you.” She held me for a long moment, then took a step back and gave me another once-over. Her brow dipped at the scratches on my arms, but she didn’t ask about them. Instead, she looked at my travel companions—Torrance, Finch, the translator named Sunniva, and our driver whose name I didn’t know. He and Sunniva bowed.

“Thank you for bringing my niece to me. You are dismissed.”

“Prinzessin.” Sunniva nodded once, then returned to the Jeep. The driver followed.

Aunt Sara rubbed my upper arms. “Let’s get you inside.”

One of the Alpan soldiers who’d been standing with Aunt Sara when we arrived held the door open. We entered a small foyer of white limestone walls and pale gray marble flooring.

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